Colorado 1870-2000 II [Hardcover]

John Fielder (Author), William Henry Jackson (Author), Gillian Klucas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

This is volume II of the Jackson/Fielder project with 110 new comparison photo pair. Volumes I and II together represent the entire project in which the historic images of early west photographer William Henry Jackson capture a Colorado landscape both pristine and already dramatically affected by the onslaught on western civilization. Standing exactly where Jackson stood, and pointing his own camera in precisely the same direction, John Fielder has rephotographed Jackson's Colorado images to capture the often startling change that has occurred over the last century. The result is both breathtaking and stark, hopeful and disquieting. John Fielder describes the profound experience of traveling the state and seeing the landscape from Jackson's perspective, and reflects upon changes of the last 130 years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As a Colorado history buff, I'm a little annoyed at all the hype the media has given the Fielder-Jackson project. The fact of the matter is Fielder's project is in no way original or ground-breaking. Several other photographers have quietly done similar projects over the years. The first that I know of to publish a then-and-now book on Colorado was Robert L. Brown, who published a series of such books in the 1960s. The first person to start work on a then-and-now book in modern times was Grant Collier, who reshot the images of his great-great grandfather, Joseph Collier. Joshua Dinar has also done a book called "Denver: Then & Now" and there have been a number of other regional Colorado books with a similar theme done over the years. Of these books, "Colorado: Yesterday & Today" by Grant Collier is, in my opinion, undoubtedly the best. It is significantly more interesting because he reshot the images of his great-great grandfather. Collier also did the best job of finding the exact spots where the historic photos were taken and he provided a lot more historical text and insight than any of the other modern books. The next best modern book is probably Fielder's "Colorado 1870-2000," in part because of the impressive size of the book. After this, I would put "Denver: Then & Now," followed by "Colorado: 1870-2000 II". I rank this book last because it consists only of the rejects from his first book. So while the book was released in 2005, the modern photos in it were taken back in 1998. The photos in this book were rejected from the first book for a reason. They are not as historically interesting as those in the first book and Fielder didn't do a great job of precisely re-shooting the images. So unless you own all of the other books listed above, I don't see any reason to buy this book. I do also recommend Robert L. Brown's books, but since the "modern" photos in his books were taken in the 1960s, they are obviously a little outdated. But the books provide interesting insight into two past time-periods, and they also provide a lot of historical text on each of the towns in the book. --Sandra Jordan (Sandy), Grand Junction, Colorado --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

John Fielder is Colorado's best-known nature photographer, publisher, teacher and preservationist with 39 exhibit-format books and guidebooks to his credit, including John Fielder's Best of Colorado and Colorado 1870-2000. He is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography (1993) and the Aldo Leopold Foundation's first ever Achievement Award (2011). John Fielder's photography has influenced people and legislation, and he has worked tirelessly to promote the protection of Colorado's open space and wildlands.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: John Fielder Publishing; First edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565795660
• ISBN-13: 978-1565795662
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 14.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #428,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the Media Hype, October 21, 2005

By 

Sandra Jordan "Sandy" (Grand Junction, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colorado 1870-2000 II (Hardcover)

As a Colorado history buff, I'm a little annoyed at all the hype the media has given the Fielder-Jackson project. The fact of the matter is Fielder's project is in no way original or ground-breaking. Several other photographers have quietly done similar projects over the years. The first that I know of to publish a then-and-now book on Colorado was Robert L. Brown, who published a series of such books in the 1960s. The first person to start work on a then-and-now book in modern times was Grant Collier, who reshot the images of his great-great grandfather, Joseph Collier. Joshua Dinar has also done a book called "Denver: Then & Now" and there have been a number of other regional Colorado books with a similar theme done over the years. Of these books, "Colorado: Yesterday & Today" by Grant Collier is, in my opinion, undoubtedly the best. It is significantly more interesting because he reshot the images of his great-great grandfather. Collier also did the best job of finding the exact spots where the historic photos were taken and he provided a lot more historical text and insight than any of the other modern books. The next best modern book is probably Fielder's "Colorado 1870-2000," in part because of the impressive size of the book. After this, I would put "Denver: Then & Now," followed by "Colorado: 1870-2000 II". I rank this book last because it consists only of the rejects from his first book. So while the book was released in 2005, the modern photos in it were taken back in 1998. The photos in this book were rejected from the first book for a reason. They are not as historically interesting as those in the first book and Fielder didn't do a great job of precisely re-shooting the images. So unless you own all of the other books listed above, I don't see any reason to buy this book. I do also recommend Robert L. Brown's books, but since the "modern" photos in his books were taken in the 1960s, they are obviously a little outdated. But the books provide interesting insight into two past time-periods, and they also provide a lot of historical text on each of the towns in the book.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Anticipation, Disappointing Results, August 10, 2007

By 

Siward - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colorado 1870-2000 II (Hardcover)

When I originally saw this book, I was highly interested because I find Colorado to be a beautiful state and photographic history to be a fascinating topic. Unfortunately, many of the retakes are uninteresting (as stated in another review) and are technically lacking (poor choice in time of day, cloud cover, or just flat out blown highlights (I counted eight photographs with blown highlights on a cursory glance through the book)).

On the plus side, the historical images are worth examining -- simply seeing photographs over 130 years old is intriguing, and the descriptions accompanying these photographs give you a sense of just how pioneering a lot of this work was.

I don't own Colorado I, I have a hard time imagining that it would be as disappointing as Colorado II. The historical photographs are beyond reproach, but I can't shake the feeling that Fielder barely gave any compositional consideration to the modern photographs.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good transaction would buy again, September 18, 2010

By 

Sherry Ferman - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Colorado 1870-2000 II (Hardcover)

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